We Don’t Find the Sandbars With An Anchor in the Water

Our desire for safety is paralyzing. We’re so afraid of hitting a sandbar that we’re willing to just sit in the harbor for years on end. Then we have the audacity to wonder why our business never grows up.

Think of the Steering Wheel on a boat as “Purposeful Direction”, and the Engine as “Commitment”. I’m a big fan of both commitment and purpose. One without the other is of no value. Nothing is more important to how quickly you will get where you’re going than the size and fitness of your engine combined with ongoing attention to the helm. Most of us don’t pay attention to either. We’re just sitting at anchor most of the time.

The single biggest factor in getting somewhere is the steering wheel of your life and business – a purposeful direction (see last week’s post). But if you know where you want to go and you aren’t committed to getting there, I mean fundamentally sold out to that end game, the journey will take a very long time and you will likely lose steam before you ever get there. If your engine of commitment isn’t big enough it’s likely you really don’t have a clear understanding of where you want to go – the steering wheel has no direction.

The only way to find the sandbars in life and in business is to get the ship moving and then start taking soundings. And if you’re commitment is big, you’ll get where you want to go a lot faster and easier than those who are puttering around with little outboard engines.

It’s all about committed movement in a purposeful direction. Lack of committed movement is failure.

Are you fully committed to moving in order to find out what works, or are you sitting around wondering where the sandbars are?